


i let the seasons change my mind

by elece



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Actual Infidelity, Angst, Cheating, Divorce, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Infidelity, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25571581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elece/pseuds/elece
Summary: Prompt : pick a season ( fall, winter, spring, summer) or a year in the life of barchie.A lot can happen from season to season, Archie and Betty know this especially.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	i let the seasons change my mind

In early spring Archie marries her best friend ; she’s maid of honour. He had pushed for her to be his best man, because she was his best friend as much as she was Veronica’s, Veronica had told him no, that Jughead would be hurt, that there was no way in hell she was making Jughead maid of honour, and that was that.

She’s a vision in dark blue, with her hair down and in waves, she looks beautiful and he stares at her for longer than he’s allowed to, but something feels off, incomplete.

It’s the colour that’s wrong, he doesn’t know how he knows it, but he does, with every part of himself he knows that she should be in white. She should be the one he’s promising to love and to cherish till death do them part. 

When the priest asks for any objections his eyes lock on hers and he sees her breath falter for a moment and it looks like she might say something, he knows that if she did, he would leave with her, he’d say sorry to his fiancé, to his best friend, her boyfriend and then leave with her.

In the end she doesn’t say anything. He tries to hide his disappointment and she gives him another sad smile. The only smiles they seem to be capable of sharing now.

...

Betty marries his best friend a couple of months after during late summer in return ; he stands at the alter as best man even though he feels like his heart is breaking.

If her eyes drift from the groom to the best man during her vows as she lets out a tear, she is the only one who knows.

He notices though, he always does, he sends her a secret smile and her heart breaks just that little bit more. Because that was all they had now, all they ever would have together, secrets : secret kisses, secret meet ups, secret feelings.

She thinks of what could have been. If he had realised sooner, if she had been braver. He twitches when the call for objections come. It’s a small movement, no one would notice unless they had been staring intensely at him. She noticed.

They dance at the reception and she feels like it’s the first time she’s danced today, for her it’s the first one that counts.

...

It’s never spoken aloud, the thing, whatever it is between them, they don’t talk about it. The time for talking and resolutions had long gone, the silver on their fingers a permanent reminder of why. All that seems to be left is regret. 

Betty wonders if you can grieve the loss of something you never had, because whenever she sees Archie with Veronica she feels a deep sense of sadness and longing, that she can never explain not even to him.

She goes on her honeymoon with Jughead in the fall, it’s then that she realises she loves Archie. That it’s more than just being haunted by a what if. She misses him everyday, think about him every hour of everyday. 

She nearly calls Jughead “Archie” once. They’re in bed with Jughead on top of her, she’s on the verge of orgasming, she has one hand tangled in his hair, pulling it back hard as of punishing it for not being the right shade of orange.

When she cums, she has to clamp a hand over her mouth, the beginning “Arr...” being all that’s heard. Jughead doesn’t notice, she almost wishes he did, she considers staying here, letting Jughead leave after the two weeks, getting a divorce, having the shortest marriage in history and never showing herself in Riverdale.

She returns with him anyway, she had never been the impulsive type. The smile Archie gives her when she gets back makes it worth it.

...

In the winter they visit Greendale, just Archie and Betty for a day trip to see the Christmas markets. They take the car up, and when it becomes too late to drive back they book a shitty run down motel. There’s no question of how many rooms they’re getting, the one key clinking in Archie’s pocket as they climb the stairs. 

She strips down to just her matching bra and panties and he sheds all but his boxers. When they land in the bed their bodies find each other on instinct, like magnets they connect.

He wonders if she knows, when he writes prayers into her skin with his hands, his mouth, worshiping her the way she deserves, when he is consumed by her, entwined with her so deep he feels like their souls might join. 

He confesses into the darkness of his room, when he’s sure she’s asleep. He lets it echo in the room, the most important secret, the only one he has from her. The one he wishes most wasn’t or at the least she knew.

He thinks sometimes she might know, but he’s a coward and will never ask.

Another question plagues him at night as well, he’s selfish he knows, he doesn’t deserve her, or any of the feelings she might possibly have for him, but he wants them and more, he itches to ask her. To know that it’s not just him, the idea that he may consume her, have a part of her, the way he’s given her all of him, or all that’s left, even if she doesn’t know.

...

They’re sat at his kitchen isle on a cool Spring morning. Veronica’s just left for something or the other, and Jughead’s on another work trip.

“Do you ever think about it?” Her soft voice catches his attention causing him to look up from the emails he was reading.

Yes, he wants to scream, every minute of everyday it’s all I think about, but the chances they are talking about the same thing are slim, so instead he shuts off his computer, so he can devote all his attention to the conversation.

“About what?” He answers even if his heart beats faster than it should, with a sparkle of hope.

“About us, about what could have been, that we should have told them, senior year, or when we all got back to Riverdale, at your wedding, at mine, even now, or that we should have just left it all behind and started our own life together or at least have given us a real chance, not just what we have now.” Her words are everything he wants to hear, everything that he’s ever wanted to hear.

He feels guilt for a second what would Veronica and Jughead say if they just disappeared, he knows Betty she would at least leave a note, and divorce papers, despite it being his childhood home, he’d gladly give Veronica the deed, just the chance to be with Betty in the open is worth it.

He realises that Betty’s starting to panic and he hasn’t said anything for a minute now. Instead of saying anything he kisses her. Long and hard and when they come up for breath he tells her “all the time, if you wanted me to I’d leave it all behind for you in a second, I love you Betty I always have.” He tells her looking deeply into his eyes.

“Arch... I love you too.” She’s leaning in for another kiss now and he grabs onto her bending her over the isle.

It’s not the first time they’ve had sex, since they’d been married, but it feels like it is, because it’s different to all the other times, this time there’s no sad goodbye, returning to different houses, different spouses. Now, they’re going to be together, for the first time they have a future.

He makes her a tea after and they talk about it realistically, the logistics, they talk about divorce lawyers, where they’d go, everything.  
It’s when they’re looking at flights, cuddled up with his computer in front of them, that they hear Veronica pull up.

They jump apart and he slams the laptop closed. Veronica doesn’t look to surprised to see Betty and greets her with a warm hug.

“Hey Betty, I didn’t know you were coming over today.” Is all Veronica says.

“Yeah, well you know Jugheads out of town, so I just popped over for a chat, nothing important.” She smiles and hopes Veronica believes her. Veronica does of course, after all why would she not. 

“Well it’s good you’re here, I’ve got something important to tell you, both of you.” The brunette tells them ominously.

Archie lets out a deep breath, and wonders if she knows, that if they’re going to have the confrontation he’d been too cowardly to have now. He knows she deserves better, and the thing isn’t that he doesn’t love Veronica, because he does, just not in the way she deserves not in the way he loves Betty. 

Because while he loves Veronica, he’s in love with Betty and spends every waking moment thinking of her, and when he’s not awake she fills his dreams. He hopes she isn’t too heartbroken after this, that she moves on and soon, finds happiness and someone who will love her the way she deserves.

A huge grin spreads on Veronica’s face, “I’m pregnant!” She yells excitedly.

He looks at Betty first, and can see she’s struggling to breathe, trying not to cry, he wants to reach out for her, comfort her, but Veronica’s news has him frozen to his seat.

It’s Betty that moves first wrapping her arms around the other woman. “That’s great V, congratulations, I didn’t know you guys were trying.”

At the last part of her sentence her eyes meet his over Veronica’s shoulder, the betrayal in her eyes stings, and he flinches back like he had actually been stung. 

It’s when the two friends separate that Veronica tells her that they weren’t but that this is good news “right Archie?” His wife speaks to him directly now.

He nods, and realises he needs to say something now. 

“The best, I’m so happy, I can’t believe it.” He kisses Veronica like a good husband should do.

Betty reiterates her congratulations, before making an excuse to leave, when she gets home she calls her work and books off the rest of the week as sick days, she spends the remainder of Jughead’s work trip, crying and chugging Vodka, ignoring Archie’s texts.

When Veronica goes to phone her mom, he opens his computer and sees the yet to be booked Paris tickets glaring back at him, they had been one click away from being bought, he erases the search history, the “are you sure?” taunting him while he clicks off the flight website.

...

Freddie Mateo Lodge Andrews is born on a warm summer evening. He weighs 7 pounds and is in Archie’s bias opinion the cutest baby to ever be born.

He is welcomed into the world by his mom and dad. And then by his god parents, Betty and Jughead. Archie watches on with a wondrous smile as Veronica lets him hold his son. He’s in awe of the small baby and knows he will love him forever. He’s reluctant to let him go, but allows Veronica to hand him over to Jughead and Betty.

When Jughead holds Freddie, he sends a look to Betty as if to see how she feels about the baby, as if to say “ this will be us next”, to see if they can expect to be in the hospital room again anytime in the near future welcoming a Cooper Jones baby into the world, the dread she feels at his look is overwhelming, and she doesn’t know if it’s at the idea of children or just children with Jughead. The dread is soon forgotten when he places Freddie into her waiting hands and all she can concentrate is the small wonder in her arms.

As Betty holds his son, Archie feels like a truly terrible person, even with his hand intertwined with Veronica’s, as he looks on while Betty coos over the newborn, he wishes Freddie was theirs.

...

Her and Jughead sign the papers in late fall. It’s not quite as dramatic as the tv makes it out to be, but the tension in the room is suffocating.

It turns out that all those work trips Jughead was taking weren’t as innocent as she had thought. He had met an intern, a barely legal teenager with a big smile and adoring eyes. She had flattered him, inflated his feeling of self worth in a way that Betty had tried to do, before she had given up. She had never been good with egos, worse as she grew older and wiser and realised how stupid the whole thing was.

She knows that she’s no better not really, and wonders if she every really was in love with Jughead, the pain she feels isn’t because Jughead cheated on her, it’s because it had turned out that the person who was supposed to have loved her most, hadn’t loved her, not enough to keep his dick out of a teenager at least.

Archie had been enraged when he had found out, she had called him after seeing the texts on Jughead’s phone. He had punched him several times until her and Veronica had managed to tear him off. Jughead and Veronica had been confused yells of “what the hell Archie” from each of them.

It had been her who had explained it to them, Jughead left then, ashamed, probably to shack up with his nineteen year old groupie. None of Jughead’s books had sold that well, but he had a strong, loyal, obsessive, but still small fan base filled with mostly prepubescent girls, the occasional older teenager or 20 year old mixed in.

Veronica had hugged her and bitched about Jughead with her, they watched movies, and went shopping, real friendship. The drawn out divorce hadn’t been her idea but Veronica’s, she had given her the Lodge Industries lawyer and insisted she used them. She had wanted to protest at first, just wanting the papers to be signed, but the more she thought of it, the more Jughead owning her childhood home made her stomach turn.

She gets everything, well nearly everything, it turns out that her having proof of infidelity really helps make a good case. She gets the house, one of the cars, and monthly spousal support checks. In return he gets the other car, and she doesn’t talk to the press about the divorce. She had wanted to resist at first, but money was money, and she felt vindicated taking a cut of what Jughead earned for the books, it was her who supported them while he tried to write, her who proof read them and suggested changes.

She leaves the office feeling free. She knows that something has shifted, that she can’t just stay here, in their house, in the town where everyone knows what happened. But she doesn’t want to think about that now, instead she gets blackout drunk with Veronica, and sleeps with Archie.

They ask if she misses Jughead, they had set her up on a date, it had went terribly and she came home far earlier than expected. She had mulled it over for a while, before telling them she missed Jughead like she missed high school. Veronica looks confused but doesn’t press for more information, Archie simply takes her hand in his and squeezes, he’d always understood her better than anyone else.

...

She decides to leave in winter, the job she had always wanted but could never take because she lived in Riverdale opens up again. She knows she probably won’t get it, while she’s an experienced writer with a degree from Yale, the Riverdale Register does not have the same prestige as the papers from most of what the other applicants will have had experience with, still she applies anyway.

When she gets the news she goes out with Veronica and Archie to celebrate, Veronica leaves early to take care of little Freddie and Archie and Betty walk to the next bar, it’s then that they talk honestly.

They’re both slightly drunk stumbling through the empty streets together.

“Why are you leaving me?” He asks finally, they both knew it had been on the tip of his tongue all evening but it still felt unexpected.

“I’m not leaving you Archie, we’ll still see each other, I just won’t live next door.” She tells him in what she thinks is a comforting manor.

“I thought you loved me?” It’s raw and she can hear the hurt in his voice, but she’s drunk and a dangerous mixture of sad and angry.

“Of course I love you Archie, I love you more than you will ever know, I love you more than you love yourself, I love you more than I love myself I always have.” Her words are slightly slurred but he hears them all the same.

“Then stay with me, stay for me.” He pleads her.

“No,” she yells, “ I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t in love with you, when I made decisions for me, just me, I love you Archie more than anything but you can’t love me back.”

He recoils in hurt and sends her a look of betrayal.

She speaks again, softer this time, “ You have no idea how much it hurts watching you leave, we sleep with each other, what once a week twice maybe, and then you leave me, you go back to her and each time it breaks me a bit more, it’s killing me Archie. Being all alone in my empty house that still has some of Jughead’s stuff while I know you’re only a few feet away with your family. I can’t do this anymore Arch”

“You don’t mean that.” Archie says his voice shaking.

“Veronica and Freddie deserve more, someone who can be fully committed to them, and I know you would be if it wasn’t for me. We can never be together Archie, not truly, it’s too fucked up, the whole thing, you’re married to my best friend and I god I just got divorced after barely a year of marriage.” She’s starting to sound a little hysterical now and tries to calm down.

“I love you Archie, truly, I think I always will, but I need to do this for me.” He still looks upset, but he takes her hand and they go home, to hers for the last time.

They go straight upstairs and strip, they lie in bed together not touching until her head lands on his chest, he doesn’t know who starts first but soon they’re both crying and holding on to one another.

They rearrange their bodies, tears still falling from both of them, so that he can sink into her. He cries while emptying himself into her, because he loves her and knows that things could have been different that they should have been, if he had told her sooner, he cries for Veronica and Freddie who don’t deserve the hurt they’d feel but mostly he cries for his best friend for the hurt he’s caused for, for the fact things can never go back to the way they were, that she’s leaving and he can’t even see her even as a friend, he knows that she’s right they have to stop but that doesn’t ease the pain.

She boards the plane to start her new life. She finds her seat and digs her phone out. I love you she texts Archie because it was true. Archie was the first person she had ever chosen to love, she had loved her family as a young girl without knowing who they were, but she had known Archie every part of him and chosen to love him and had never stopped, they had some homework and listened to old records together and then faced off against murderers but through it all, Jughead, Veronica she had loved him, always.

She doesn’t know what response she waiting for I love you too he texts back, it’s not enough, it should be but it’s not, she doesn’t know what would be enough. The flight attendant comes around and she turns off her phone without texting him back. She braces herself for take off, a faint smile grazing her face as her eyes tingle with unshed tears, Paris is waiting for her.


End file.
